Yarn cleaner



Nov. 13, 11923.

R. G. JENNINGS YARN CLEANER March 15 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR (15w BYZ @wfl ATTORNEY NOV; 13 Q R. JENNINGS YARN CLEANER Filed March 15, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 65 uy A 46 6 19 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 13, 1%23.

ROBERT GOULD JENNINGS, OF ELMIRA, NEXV YORK.

YARN CLEANER.

Application filed March 15, 1920. Serial No. 365,788.

ToaZZ whom it may concern:v

Be it known that i, Bonner G. JENNINGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elmira, in the county of Chemung and 6 State of blew York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Yarn Cleaners, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it 10 appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to yarn cleaners, and with respect to some of its more specific details, to yarn cleaners of the character disclosed in prior Patent No. 1,301,133 granted April 22, 1919, reissued March 16, 1920, No. 1 1,818.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved means for separating impurities from yarn so as to producea clean and finished product.

It is a further object to provide an improved releasing means for a yarn cleaning unit of the type disclosed in said prior patent.

It is a further object to provide an improved means to release the impurities col lected by yarn cleaning mechanism, while at the same time maintaining uniform tension on the yarn.

It is a further object to provide improved means for mounting the moving parts of a yarn cleaning unit on its supporting bar.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in connection with the following detailed description of the in ve ntion.

lhe invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will' be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth. and the scope 'of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

in the accompanying drawings wherein an illustrative but preferred embodiment is shown,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a yarn-cleaning apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3+3 of Fig. 1;

' Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken approximately on the line 14t of Fig. 1; r I

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on the line 5 5 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional elevation on the line 9-9 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the operating mechanism for one of the cleaning units, parts being broken away and parts shown in section on a plane between the blades of the cleaning unit to disclose structural details more clearly.

As shown in the illustrative embodiment, a rectangular supporting bar 1 carries six cleaning units, 2, 3, 1, 5, 6, and 7, spaced along its length, and is provided at its forward end with a tension device 8. Mounted adjacent the tension device on the supporting bar 1 is a guiding loop 9 through which the yarn is adapted to pass.

Each cleaning unit is provided with a bed 10 fixed to the bar 1 and having an upper surface comprising a generally flat portion merging into a downwardly curved portion. The gripping device 11.for gripping and holding the impurities collected from the yarn includes blades 11 and 11 which are pivotally mounted side by side on bar 1 by means of a pin 12. Each blade has an eX- tended portion curved on its lower surface, the radius of curvature differing from that of the upper curved surface of the base 10. thus providing a wedge shaped opening 10, when the blade is in contact with the bed, which receives and holds the impurities as they are removed from the yarn. This construction is similar to that disclosed in said prior Reissue Patent No. 14,818 above referred to.

The pin 12 extends through a squared aperture in a laterally disposed projection 13 on each of the blades, and to prevent the blades from angular movement with respect to said pin the latter is squared for a short distance adjacent the blades as shown in Fig. 10, A washer 14 having a squared aperture therein is provided on' the squared portion of the pin 12 just outside the projection 13 of the blade 11 adjacent the place on the pin 12 where the square and circular sections thereof merge. Thus it will be seen that the washer-1 1 abuts against the shoulders formed by these merging sections to hold the blades on the pin when the latter is retive blades.

moved from the supporting" bar 1, the nut. 12 being employed for this purpose to engage the outer blade 11. At a reduced portion 12 at one end of the pin 12 a thread is provided to receive the nut 12 which adjustably holds the blades in position on the squared portion of the pin. Two spaced sleeves or thimbles 14- and 1;") are disposed on opposite sides of the bar 1 and have reduced portions 14/ and 1.5 respectively which extend into apertures in the bar 1 approximately half way through the latter from each side leaving a sn' all slot 161between the ends thereof for receiving lubricatingoil. ese sleeves are provided with circular apertures for receiving and acting as bearings for the pin 12 which projects beyond thesleeve 15 to receive a block 17 which has an aperture for this purpose. The block 17 is provided with a set-screw 17 for securing it posilQ i 0n the pin, and is :turther provided with a slot or seat 18 to receive the end of a spring; arm 19. This springarm can tends downwardly from the block 17, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, an d at its upper end is looped upon itself as at 20 having a reversely extendingportion 21 lying in said seat 18. This provides for the operating spring arm 19, a terminal connecting portion having spaced sections resiliently connected hy the bent part 20, and lying in a plane disposed substantially at right angles to the axis of pin 12. Extending through the upper terminal portion of the spring arm adjacent the looped portion thereof into thehloek 17 is an adjusting and securing screw 22 by which the lower portion of said arm may be readily adjusted; This adjusting screw is securely held in adjusted posi tion by means of a locking screw 22 adapted to be screwed into the block 17 to engage the periphery of the adjusting screw. oil hole 1 is disposed in the bar 1 and above slot 16 whereby oil may be inserted to lubricate the rod 12 in its bearings. V

The gripping blades of each cleaning; unit are yieldingly held in gripping'relation with the bed 10 by means ota doublecoiled spring having opposed coils 23 and 24 surrounding the pin 12 between the blades. As shown in Fig: (3 oi the drawing. the two coils may be conveniently -fori'ned from a single length of spring wire so as. to form in effect a sjngl'e spring having an extension 25 near its iqeillier which is looped about an anchor pin 2% the free end of each coil being looped as at 27 to engage the respec- The opposed spring coils engage the blades to hold the latter apart in sp'iped relationship with respect to each other on the pin' l2, and the distance between the hlades may be adjusted by nut 12. It i l airbase? h t ri g-I c n y intestines thehle e a a i spa which is 1 ,anseoe tween the blades is automatically adjusted to different diameters of yarn or to irregularities in the same yarn so that the blades are always held lightly in yielding engagement therewith.

As shown in Fig. 7. an integral lug 29 extends from the looped portion 21 of the arm 19 adjacent the block 17 in position to engage the rear end to the bed 10 to limit the upward or releasing movement ofthe blades.

As shown in Figs. 1. and 8 an additional guiding; loop 30 for the yarn is secured in position near the rear end of supporting bar 1, and mounted adjacent this loop on said bar is a guide plate 31 having a slot 32 through which the yarn passes.

As in Reissue Patent No. 14,818, above re ferred to. releasing means are provided for moving the b ades of each cleaning unit at intervals to release the impurities which have been collected from the yarn and gripped or wedged into the slot 10. According to this invention improved means are provided for this purpose. operating the blades alternately ingroups so as to preserve as nearly as possible a uniform resistance to the pasot theyarn through the units and to maintain an approximately constant tension at all times. This function is accomplished by the construction which is shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 20f the drawing. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a metallic arm 40 is suitably supported on the hub 41 on a supporting rod 42 mounted in brackets 43, and this arm extends parallel to the bar 1 having near the outer end thereot a laterally projectin g lug}; 44;. havinga pair of spaced apertures therein. The bar 1 is also carried on a'projeclion 4.1 of the hub. 4-1. Extending through and SllPDOll'Qtl in the apertures in said lug are longitudinally reciprocating; rods 45 and 46.

the rear ends of which diverge at- 4*? and 48 and are connected to opposite ends of a rocker arm 49 mounted upon and extending on opposite sides of a rock shaft 50. said arm being; held in position on said shaft by means ot a set-screwfil and being formed with a. suitabie aperture 52 for receiving said shaft. a

Suitablysecured in spaced position on the reciprocat in rods 45 and -16 as by set-screws are contact lugs 53 having projection 54.- lying between the rods and adapted to contact with the arms 19. As shown in Figs. 1 and 10, the contact blocks are spaced onthe rod 4-5 to contact with the arms of alternate cleaning units those on red 46 are direction.

spaced to contact with the arms of the remaining cleaning units.

The means for oscillating the shaft to operate the releasing rods 45 and 46 comprises a cam wheel having a groove for a driving belt and a circular cam surface 56 provided with a projection 57 and a depres sion 58 diametrically disposed with respect to said projection. An arm 59 secured to shaft 50 carries a roller 60 and is urged by the coiled spring 61 to cause the roller to contact the periphery of the cam surface.

A suitable shield 63 may depend from the supporting bar lto protect the operating parts, and a guide member 62 may be employed to aid in placing the yarn in opera tive relationship with respect to the cleaning units.

In operation the yarn to be cleaned is threaded through the tension device 8, between the blades of each cleaning unit, and through the guiding loop 30 and slot 32 at the rear of the supporting bar 1. The thread is then caused to travel at a rapid rate through the cleaning apparatus-and the impurities are removed therefrom and jammed into the wedge shaped slots 10 and held by the blades 11 and 11 in a manner as is particularly described in said prior Reissue Patent No. 14,818. The thread is lightly pressed between the blades 11 and 11 of each unit under the influence of the springs 23 and 24, the pressure exerted upon the blade being readily adjustable by means of the nut 12 and by this same means the unit may be adjusted for different sizes of yarn. Irrespective of the size of the yarn, or of irregularities of the same, the lolades by means of spring 23, Qtare held lightly in yielding engagement with the yarn at all times, the movement of the blades due to enlargements on the yarn being yieldingly opposed by the spring by reason ofthe fact that a portion of the extension 13 of each blade fulcrums at its edge on the adjacent periphery of the washer 14 in the case of blade 11, or of the nut 12 in the case of 11 The tendency therefore is to offer a constant resistance to the passing yarn and to maintain a uniform tension.

As the cam wheel 55 rotates the projection 57. and depression 58 are brought alternately in contact with the roller 59 to operate the mechanism for releasing the impurities lodged in slots 10 of the cleaning units. hen the projection 57 engages the roller, the arm 59 and shaft 50 are operated so as to move rod 45 longitudinally toward said shaft while-rod 49 moves in the opposite The lugs 53 on the rod 45 will thus be brought into engagement when the adjustable arms 19 of the second, fourth, and sixth cleaning units, counting from the leading end of the supporting bar 1, and the blades of these units will thus be raised to verse to those just described.

allow the collected impurities to be swept out of the slot 10' by the rapidly moving yarn. The lugs 43 on the rod 46 will move away from the adjustable arms 19, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8, and the remaining cleaning units will not be released. However, when the depression 58 aligns with the rollers the spring 61 causes the latter to move inwardly moving the rods 45 and 46 in directions re- In this case it will be seen that lugs 53 on rod 4-6 are brought into contact with the arms 19 of the first, third and fifth cleaning units and the latter are operated to release the impurities, while the remaining units remain stationary. It will thus be seen that the cleaning units are released in alternate groups, with a consequent tendency to maintain a con stant tension on the yarn at all times.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shownin the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

aving described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, means for removing impurities including a support, a pin mounted on said support, a plurality of blades .on said pin, and yielding means contacting said pin and anchored to said blades and having an extension anchored in fixed position relatively to said support.

2. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, a cleaning unit including a support, a pin rotatably mounted-on said support, blades on said pin, rotatable therewith, and means disposed between said blades for yieldingly holding the same in gripping position.

3. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, a pair of blades mounted side by side, means mounted between said blades to yieldingly hold the same in spaced relation ship, adjusting means for said blades and means for positively raising said blades to release impurities held thereby.

4. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, a rotatably mounted pin, a pair of blades mounted on said pin so as to rotate therewith, a supporting bar having an aperture therein, and sleeves disposed on ing reduced portions projecting into said aperture and providing a bearing for said pm.

6. In a yarn cleaning unit, in combination, a rotatably mounted pin, a pair of blades mounted on said pin so as to rotate therewith, a supporting bar having anjiperture therein, sleeves disposedon opposite sides of said bar and projecting into said aperture and providing bearings for said pm, and means engaging said blades to yieldingly hold the same in spaced relation:

shlp.

7. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, a cleaning element, a pin carrying said element and rotatable therewith, ablock connected to said pin, a looped operating arm, and securing means passing through the looped portion of said arm and into said block.

8. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, a cleaning element, a pin carrying said element and rotatable therewith, an operating arm for said pin having spaced portions, and means for operatively connecting said arm to said pin including adjustable securing means passing through said space-d portions.

9. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, a cleaning element, a pin carrying said element and rotatable therewith, an operating arm for said pin having spaced portions resiliently held in spaced relationship, and means operatively connecting said pin, and arm.

10. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in com bination, a cleaning unit having a pin, a support for said pin, spaced blades mounted on said pin to rotate therewith, and resilient spacing means mounted between said blades and anchored to said support.

11. In a yarn cleaning unit, in combination, a cleaning unit having a pin, a support for said pin, spaced blades mounted on said pin to rotate therewith, resilient spacing means mounted between said blades and anchored to said support, and means for moving said pin to operate said blades.

12. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, a cleaning unit having a pin, a support for said pin, spacedblades mounted on said pin to rotate therewith, resilient spacing means mounted between said blades and anchored to said support, and resiliently ad ustable means upon said pinto move the latter.

1?). In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in-combination, a support, a pin rotatably mounted on said support, a bed, blades mounted on said pin rotating therewith and engaging said. bedto limit the movement oi said pin in the one direction, means on said pin to operate thesame, and a stop carried by said means and adapted to engage said bed to limit the movement oi said pin in another direction. V

14:. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, a support, a pin rotatably mounted on said support, a bed, blades mounted on said pin rotating therewith and engaging said bed to limit the movement oat said pin in one direction, means on said pin to operate the same, a stop carried by said means and adapted to engage said bed to limit the movement of saidpin in another direction, and resilient means biased to urge said pin to one ot its limiting positions.

15. Ina yarn cleaning apparatus, in combination, a cleaning unit, a rotatable operating pin for said unit, an operating arm for said pin having a terminal portion adapted for connection to said operating pin and having resiliently connected sections spaced apart and lying in a plane substantially at right angles to the axis of said pin, and a fastening device co-operating with the Sections of said terminal portion for securing said operating arm to said pin and for adjusting said operating arm relatively thereto. i

16. In a yarn cleaning apparatus,in combination, a cleaning unit having a rotatable operatin pin, an adjustable operating'arm connecter to said pin, and stop mechanism to limit the movementoi IOtilillOH of said pm including a stop member on said arm.

17. In a yarn cleaning apparatus, in

combination, a cleaning unit, and means for operating said cleaning unit, including an operating arm having spaced terminal sections, resilient means for connecting said sections together, and an adjusting device cooperating with said spaced sections, said adjusting device being normally adjusted to press said sections together against opposition of said resilient connection;

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of. two witnesses. Q r ROBERT GOULD JENNINGS.

lVitnesses:

IDA Fnnnnnrrz, LILLIAN LAYTON. 7 i 

